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6,338 'Apps' stories April 2010 - May 2014
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Learn about the latest news for iOS, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV apps

Apps for iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS power our modern world. 9to5Mac will update you on the latest news, review, and updates for all types of apps. “There’s an App for that”.

The term came became part of our vocabulary when Steve Jobs announced The App Store as part of the iPhone 2.0 software update in 2008.

Over the years, the term has become as common as kleenex for describing applications on all of our devices. Apple’s platforms have apps for just about anything from finance, banking, sports, social media, podcasting, music, and more. We have a guide for helping you discover the best ones as well. Apps are now on everything from our TV, to our smartphones, on our laptops, and all the way down to our wrists.

As new ones are released or existing ones have major updates, the team here at 9to5Mac will bring you the latest news and reviews. If you want to follow along with video footage, be sure to follow 9to5Mac on YouTube. Scroll down below our latest updates on all things relating to applications on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch.

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9to5Toys Last Call: Infinity Blade II $0.99, Harman Kardon network AV receiver $199, iPad mini $30 off, more

Avatar for May 9 2014 - 9:51 am PT
0 Comments

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed,Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

Incase Compact Campus Macbook backpacks in multiple colors $22 (Reg. $60) Free PC/Mac download from Origin: Plants vs. Zombies Game of the Year Ed. (~$10 value) Men’s Fashion: Brooks Brothers extra 25% off, Express 40% off, Timbuk2 messenger bag $34, more New Best Buy promo lets iPhone 4 owners trade up to a Verizon or Sprint 5s for free $100 Apple iTunes gift card for $85 shipped (15% savings) https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/464787429321613313 Other deals from today:

https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/464430007050592256 More deals still alive:

https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/464487530893942784 New products/useful info:

Microsoft/Google/Android:

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9to5Toys Last Call: Plants vs Zombies free for Mac, up to 25% off iPod touch, Mpow 12000mAh power bank $28, more

Avatar for Justin Kahn May 8 2014 - 10:21 am PT
0 Comments

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed,Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

iPod touch (newest version) up to 25% off: 16GB $179, 32GB $224, 64GB $299 Mpow 12000mAh dual-port power bank $28 shipped (Reg. $66) New Best Buy promo lets iPhone 4 owners trade up to a Verizon or Sprint 5s for free Jawbone Jambox portable Bluetooth speaker/mic in a variety of colors:$90 shipped (Reg. $150) $100 Apple iTunes gift card for $85 shipped (15% savings)

Other deals from today:

  • New! Sling Media Slingbox 350, stream live HDTV to your iPhone/iPad $100 shipped (Reg. $180)
  • New! Headphones deals: SOL REPUBLIC $100 (Reg. $200), Scosche RH $63 (Reg. $230), Sennheiser, many more
  • New! OtterBox Defender for iPad mini with Retina display (black) $36 shipped (Reg. 80), more
  • New! New Trent 11200mAh IMP99D External Battery Charger $24 shipped
  • New! Daily Deals: XtremeMac Bluetooth Speaker w/Lightning Dock $49, TOCCs Power Bank $20, Home Goods up to 85% off, more
  • New! Games/Apps: Rayman Jungle Run $1 (Reg. $3), Assassin’s Creed Pirates $1 (Reg. $5), 10% off Xbox gift cards, iOS freebies, more

More deals still alive:

New products/useful info:

Microsoft/Google/Android:

 

iPhone app screens for skin cancer more accurately than your doctor, shows early testing

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy May 8 2014 - 5:15 am PT
15 Comments
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Early testing of an iPhone app developed to detect melanoma – the most dangerous form of skin cancer – found an accuracy rate of around 85 percent. This is similar to that achieved by specialist dermatologists, and more accurate than examination by primary care physicians.

Melanoma, usually caused by too much exposure to the sun, is responsible for around three-quarters of all skin cancer deaths. It’s dangerous because it can spread quickly if not caught at an early stage, but surgery has a high success rate if the condition is detected and treated soon after symptoms appear … 
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GoodReader update adds masses of editing flexibility, offers 60 percent discount

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy May 8 2014 - 4:49 am PT
6 Comments

GoodReader, the popular PDF management app for iOS, has been updated to version 4 – with a mass of new editing features. New features are:

  • Insert blank pages for notes and drawings, solving the problem of not having enough space to annotate or draw images on a document
  • Rearrange pages in a document
  • Rotate individual pages – or even all of them
  • Delete any pages from a document
  • Extract individual pages as separate files, and split PDF files into halves – enabling a sub-set of pages to be shared as its own file
  • Email individual pages rather than the entire document
  • Append pages from other PDF files …


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Photo editing pioneer Hipstamatic offers Vine-like video app, Cinamatic

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy May 8 2014 - 4:13 am PT
2 Comments
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Hipstamatic led the way in offering a fast and fun way to edit and share photos from an iPhone, but has been a little slow to move into video. The company has now corrected this, launching the Cinamatic app designed to compete with Vine and Instagram.

Cinamatic lets you shoot short videos ranging from 3-15 seconds, apply filters to them and then share on Vine, Instagram and Facebook – or send them via email or Messages … 
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Adobe Voice debuts on iPad with simple and powerful tools for telling stories through multimedia

Avatar for Zac Hall May 7 2014 - 9:30 pm PT
6 Comments
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Adobe is out today with a new app for iPad that leverages the use of multimedia and speech to create simple and creative animated videos. The app is called Adobe Voice (it may look familiar to you if you recall Ginger) and the creative software company thinks it can make you a better story teller using your iPad. Adobe Voice combines the use of narration, photographs, text, and iconography with a number of templates which include music to create a really neat experience for making crafty videos. Check out my experience (and videos) below.
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9to5Toys Last Call: TuneIn Radio Pro for iOS goes free, Trent Travelpak $19, Logitech Ultrathin iPad KB $18, more

Avatar for May 7 2014 - 10:06 am PT
0 Comments

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed,Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Download TuneIn Radio Pro on iOS for free and listen to over 100,000 ad-free radio stations ($4 value)

New Trent Travelpak PLUS External Charger for Smartphones & Tablets $19 shipped (Reg. $42)

Logitech Ultrathin Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad 2/3/4 (Refurbished) $18 shipped (Reg. $99)

 

$100 Apple iTunes gift card for $85 shipped (15% savings)


Other deals from today:

  • New! Media Deals: Target $5 Blu-ray sale, up to 54% off Star Wars movie collections, $1 theater admission, more
  • New! Logitech UE Bluetooth Wireless Boombox Speaker refurb: $35 (Reg. $100)
  • New! 1 year magazine subs w/ digital access from $5: Wired, Men’s Health, Macworld, more
  • New! Daily Deals: 16GB iPad mini $269, Motorola Wireless Bluetooth Headset $35, LG Blu-Ray/DVD Player $41, more
  • New! TechMatte Power Pod Qi Wireless Charger for Qi-Enabled devices $15 (Reg. $70)
  • New! Games/Apps: Up to 30% off Macphun creativity apps, Splashtop 2 Remote Desktop $1, Ski On Neon FREE, iOS freebies, more


More deals still alive:

New products/useful info:

Microsoft/Google/Android:

 

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LinkedIn discontinuing its own CardMunch app in favor of Evernote’s business card scanning feature

Avatar for Zac Hall May 7 2014 - 7:21 am PT
3 Comments

LinkedIn announced today plans to shut down its business card scanning app CardMunch in favor of a new partnership with Evernote which offers a competing service. In its initial reasoning for the new approach, LinkedIn points to the more advanced feature set of Evernote’s offering:

Evernote’s card scanning service is fast, reliable, and literally world-class, with support for seven languages.

In Evernote, our members will be able to view profile photos, job titles and company information from LinkedIn right in the notes created when they scan business cards. LinkedIn members will now also be able to enter comments related to the scanned card and geo-tag the location where the card was scanned.


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Walgreens & Walmart testing iBeacons, Motorola Solutions launches iBeacon marketing platform

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 6 2014 - 5:52 pm PT
4 Comments
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Walgreens-owned drugstore chain Duane Reade announced today that it’s updating its iPhone app with support for iBeacons it recently installed in 10 of its New York city locations. It and Walmart are just two of the latest big name chains said to be testing the technology, while Motorola Solutions announced today its own indoor location platform that includes a combination of Bluetooth iBeacons and Wi-Fi based features.

Like other implementations that we’ve seen in retail and grocery stores, Duane Reade has installed the Bluetooth iBeacons in order to beam offers, coupons and product info to customers in proximity that have the company’s iPhone app installed:
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9to5Toys Last Call: New MacBook Airs up to $60 off, Audible $2/month, free $50 Target GC w/ iPads, more

Avatar for Justin Kahn May 6 2014 - 1:13 pm PT
0 Comments

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed,Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Get 3-months of Audible.com access for $1.95/month ($45 value), new customers only

Samsung 840 EVO Series 256GB 2.5″ SATA III SSD: $139 shipped (orig. $250)

$100 Apple iTunes gift card for $85 shipped (15% savings)

Other deals from today:

  • New! D-Link’s new Wi-Fi Smart Plug offers full control over your electronics w/ energy usage monitoring & thermal sensor safety features
  • New! Daily Deals: 1080P Viewsonic displays $100+up, Zooka Wireless Speaker $15, Apple Lightning Cable $10, more
  • New! Games/Apps: LEGO Marvel Super Heroes $25 – $35, Disney Infinity Pack w/ Play Set & more $60, Baldur’s Gate II $10, iOS freebies, more
  • New! 3DSystems Cube Personal 3D Printer (2nd Gen) in Silver: $1000 shipped (Reg. $1300)


More deals still alive:

New products/useful info:

Microsoft/Google/Android:

 

Google Maps for iOS updated with lane guidance, improved offline maps, Uber integration

Avatar for Zac Hall May 6 2014 - 9:17 am PT
23 Comments
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Google released a major feature update to Google Maps for iOS today bringing a handful of useful features for navigation and travel with your iPhone and iPad including integration with the private transportation service Uber.

First up is a feature found on many dedicated GPS devices: lane guidance. The feature will present which lane is necessary with current directions to help you avoid missing important turns. Notably, Apple’s Maps software does not currently offer this feature. Google says lane guidance is currently only available for users in the US and Canada…
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Tumblr now lets you customize your blog theme from its iOS app

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 6 2014 - 7:01 am PT
1 Comment

Tumblr today released an updated version of its app for iPhone and iPad that allows users for the first time to customize the look and design of their blog directly from within the app. While you could always post and edit content to your blog from the app, the update means you’ll now be able to also edit your blog’s theme— change colors, fonts, pictures, etc— through the mobile app.

You now have total control over how your blog looks in the app. Colors, fonts, pictures, whatever—however you want to look, you can look that way. Download this thing and make your blog look amazing already.

You’ll be able to make changes to layout, color, font, etc through a WYSIWYG-style UI similar to on the web and also view a live preview of the changes before going live.

The update is available now on the App Store for iPhone and iPad users and also arrive for Android today.

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Rovio launches Flappy Bird-style game ‘Retry’ in select countries

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 6 2014 - 6:24 am PT
6 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta0SJa6Sglo]

Angry Birds maker Rovio is today launching its latest title in the App Store with the release of ‘Retry,’ a game that appears to be inspired by the gameplay and retro 8-bit graphics of recent hit iOS game Flappy Birds. Although that might be selling it short, as it’s clear from the mechanics shown off in the trailer above that this is much more than just a Flappy Birds clone.

From the guys sitting in the room next to the guys who made Angry Birds, comes RETRY – a game so hard, so addictive, so old school that you’ll think you’ve stepped into an 8-bit time machine and gone back to 1986. Totally rad!

The game is the first release from Rovio’s latest publishing arm “Rovio LVL 11,” which, according to Gamasutra, will exist for Rovio’s new titles that don’t quite fit in with the Angry Birds world. That means you shouldn’t expect to see a ton of cross-promotions with Retry and Angry Birds or any of the other Rovio’s titles.

Retry is already available in the App Store for both iPhone and iPad, but it’s currently only available in Canada, Finland, and Poland. We’d expect to see the title arrive in the US and globally in the near future.

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9to5Toys Last Call: $100 iTunes GC $85, uNu DX iPhone 5/5s battery case $50, WD 2TB portable HD $90, more

Avatar for Justin Kahn May 5 2014 - 10:01 am PT
0 Comments

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed,Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

$100 Apple iTunes gift card for $85 shipped (15% savings)

uNu DX iPhone 5/5s 2300mAh MFi battery case (black, white, gold, red): $50 shipped (Reg. $90)

Western Digital My Passport 2 TB Portable Hard Drive $90 shipped (Reg. $200)/ 1TB Ultra $60 shipped (Reg. $120)

2013 Haswell MacBook Air deals: .EDU email address only: 2013 Haswell MacBook Airs from $610 (open-box), $650 (new), Non-EDU from $799 shipped (new, unopened)

Other deals from today:

  • New! Up to 80% off select PNY flash drives, memory cards, and power banks. 128GB as low as $39 shipped
  • New! Daily Deals: 28″ HDTV DVD Combo $150, Logitech Headphones $59, Galaxy Cam $200, BT Speakers, more
  • New! Games/Apps: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes $25, Killzone: Shadow Fall $30, iOS freebies, more

More deals still alive:

New products/useful info:

Microsoft/Google/Android:

 

Reuters summarizes a year’s worth of our Apple iWatch, Healthbook, & medical hires reporting, adds fresh insight

Avatar for Mark Gurman May 5 2014 - 7:54 am PT
16 Comments
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Reuters is out today with a story headlined “Apple on medical tech hiring spree, a possible hint of iWatch plans.” The article is mostly a summary of nearly a year’s worth of our reporting here at 9to5Mac, but does add some fresh 3rd party analysis into Apple’s impact on the biomedical field. Starting from the beginning of the reporting’s details:

Reuters, today: 

Apple Inc is building a team of senior medical technology executives, raising hackles in the biotechnology community and offering a hint of what the iPhone maker may be planning for its widely expected iWatch and other wearable technology.

 iWatch’s novelty emerges as Apple taps sensor and fitness experts:

Apple has begun assembling a team of hardware and software engineering, medical sensor, manufacturing, and fitness experts, indicating the company is moving forward with a project to build a fitness-oriented, sensor-laden wearable computer, according to our sources.

Going point-by-point:


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T-Mobile is again offering free MLB At Bat access to customers

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 5 2014 - 6:01 am PT
4 Comments

Like it did last year after inking a partnership with Major League Baseball, T-Mobile is once again offering free access to the MLB At Bat apps on iOS and Android. Tmonews points us to official confirmation from a T-Mobile support employee:

“UPDATE: As the official sponsor of Major League Baseball, we will be offering MLB At Bat 14 to our customers for free starting May 1 through the entire regular season! With our unlimited data and nationwide 4G LTE, you can enjoy all the great features MLB’s At Bat has to offer!”

That’s instead of paying for one of several MLB subscriptions that grants access to the app starting at $2.99 monthly or $20 for the entire season. There’s no word from T-Mobile with the official details yet, but we’d imagine customers will get access to all the live games and content apart from premium features available to $115/per year MLB.TV Premium subscription. 

The MLB At Bat app is available for iOS and Android now.

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9to5Toys Last Call: The Wolf Among Us for iOS goes free, Mother’s Day deals, Star Wars app price drops, more

Avatar for Justin Kahn May 2 2014 - 10:27 am PT
1 Comment

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed,Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

Celebrate #MayTheFourth with the best Star Wars deals: Lego, lightsabers, apps/games, freebies, more

Stars Wars game deals are already kicking off on the Mac App Store, Newegg, and Steam including Knights of the Old Republic for $3.06 and The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition for $6.12). You’ll find a number of discounted iOS Star Wars titles as well like the highly rated Star Wars Pinball 3 for FREE and Knights of the Old Republic for $4 (Reg. $10).

Samsung 840 EVO Series 500GB 2.5″ SATA III SSD: $230 shipped (orig. $480)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDvPIhCd8N4]

Games/Apps: Games/Apps: NBA 2K14 $40, Infinity Blade $1, Super Stickman Golf 2 FREE, iOS freebies, more

‘Notability’ for iPhone and iPad goes FREE for the first time ever (Reg. $2.99)

2013 Haswell MacBook Air deals: .EDU email address only: 2013 Haswell MacBook Airs from $610 (open-box), $650 (new), Non-EDU from $799 shipped (new, unopened)


Other deals from today:

  • New! In-ear Headphones: Logitech UE 500 $20, Logitech UE 350 $13, Sennheiser MX 680 Sport $15
  • New! Daily Deals: Goal Zero Solar Kit $70, Logitech Accessories up to 75% off, iPhone 5/5s battery case $70, more
  • New! One year magazine subs: GQ w/ digital $5 shipped (Reg. $48), Macworld, Fast Company, more
  • New! Native Instruments Maschine (MK2) sequencer: $499 shipped (Reg. $600)


More deals still alive:

New products/useful info:

Microsoft/Google/Android:

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iCloud goes down… down under

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 2 2014 - 7:38 am PT
8 Comments

Several reports are coming in that Apple’s iCloud services have been experiencing an outage in Australia in addition to a few reports from New Zealand. Most appear unable to access any iCloud services such as Calendars and Mail, and others report Apple’s iMessage service is also down. The problems appear to have started late last night eastern time and continued into the morning today.

Apple is yet to update its System Status page to reflect the outages, but users continue to report problems. A long list of tweets from users in both Australia and New Zealand note the system was still down as of this morning.

[tweet https://twitter.com/peterchaly/status/462186048710512640]

[tweet https://twitter.com/dreasaez/status/462183077885001728]

[tweet https://twitter.com/justinholst/status/462194257323757571]

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Apple adds TV shows to Apple TV, iTunes in the Cloud support for TV shows & movies in Germany

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 1 2014 - 11:56 am PT
3 Comments

Apple has started rolling out TV shows in addition to  iTunes in the Cloud support for TV shows and movies to Apple TV and iTunes users in Germany. A report from Germany blog iFun.de notes the iTunes in the Cloud functionality, allowing users to access TV shows and movies that were previously purchased through iTunes, is now accessible from both Apple TV and the Purchased content section in iTunes on the desktop and iOS devices.

Previously Apple only supported music, music videos, apps and books for the iTunes in the Cloud feature in Germany and it’s yet to update the availability support pages for iTunes in the Cloud or content on Apple TV to reflect today’s roll out.

Beats Music 2.0 update delivers iPad version for subscription music service

Avatar for Zac Hall May 1 2014 - 11:25 am PT
0 Comments
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Well, there it is. Beats Music updated to version 2.0 today bringing native support for the streaming music subscription service for iPad users. Beats Music teased the iPad version just yesterday in a teaser image shared over Twitter. Beats Music also recently added support for in-app subscription purchasing making it easier for users to use the full version of the service. The update also includes the ability to find other Beats Music users you may already know through Twitter.
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Slingshot app lets you share your iOS screen with others on any platform

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 1 2014 - 8:06 am PT
10 Comments
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I’ve written about apps from Squirrels in the past. It makes the AirParrot and Reflection apps that let you mirror your Mac or PC screen to an Apple TV or your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch screen to a Mac or PC. Today it’s launching a new product that utilizes technology from both of those previous apps called ‘Slingshot.’ The cross-platform apps let you share your iOS screen with others on iOS, Mac OS X, Windows, or Android, and provides some slick collaboration tools in the process:
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Microsoft updates OneNote for iPhone & Mac w/ top requested features

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 1 2014 - 8:04 am PT
0 Comments

Following updates to the Office apps for iPad yesterday that introduced printing support, Microsoft announced today that it’s updating the OneNote apps for iPhone and Mac with the top requested features from users. Included in the new features for iPhone users is the ability to create new notebook and sections, a revamped look that fits in more with iOS 7, and the Office Lens feature that was already available to iPad users. 

We’ve built Office Lens into OneNote for iPhone. Similar to Office Lens on OneNote for iPad, this popular feature turns your iPhone into a pocket scanner so you can use it to take pictures of things like receipts or whiteboard notes. Then, with Office Lens you can trim, enhance and make pictures more readable. Best thing is, images are automatically synced to OneNote, and if your picture includes printed text, OneNote can recognize the text with optical character recognition (OCR) so you can search for words in the image.

The Mac app gets improved printing, drag and drop images from the web, and much more:

  1. Print notes: You can now print out your lecture notes, travel itineraries or recipes by simply navigating to the page of your choice and bringing up the standard system print dialog from the menu. In addition, you can save the page as a PDF file through the Print dialog.
  2. Drag and drop images: Yes, this is as easy as it sounds! If you are browsing the web for ideas for a remodeling project and find some pictures you want to capture, you can easily drag and drop those into OneNote. If you have an album on your local machine, you can simply drag and drop multiple photos from Finder into OneNote. Additionally, this update also adds image formatting tools so you can restore the size of the picture if it’s been modified from its original state, or rotate pictures as desired.
  3. Format Painter: You may recognize this option from other Office applications. Format Painter is a handy tool to quickly apply the same text formatting throughout your notes. For example, if you copy and paste content from different sources with different formats, you can easily apply the same consistent format across all the content in a couple clicks. WARNING: this tool is highly addictive. Once you start using it, you won’t be able to stop.
  4. Copy and paste formatted content: When using OneNote for project management, class research or travel planning, capturing content from other places into OneNote is essential. Whether it’s formatted text from a Word document, tables from Excel or webpages, you can easily capture rich content and place it in your notes so it looks the same as it did in Word, Excel or on the webpage.
  5. Hyperlinks: Sometimes links can be long, unwieldy and aren’t always self-explanatory. You can now keep your notes organized by adding a display name for links in your notes.

The OneNote for Mac and OneNote for iPhone apps are available on the App Store now.

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Beats Music teases upcoming iPad version of streaming service

Avatar for Zac Hall Apr 30 2014 - 1:04 pm PT
0 Comments

After being announced last fall and debuting an iPhone app at launch in January, streaming music service Beats is finally ready to ship an iPad-optimized version of its software… almost. Beats Music tweeted the photo above earlier today with the caption “THIS JUST IN: Your favorite Music App is feeling ready to grow in size…literally… “. The news follows recent moves to increase accessibility to becoming a paid subscriber to the service as it recently added in-app subscription purchasing capability (something which gives Apple a 30% cut of the rate).